A God's Champion
by InTheEndYouWillAlwaysKneel
Summary: Loki enlists the aid of a S.H.I.E.L.D agent whose inner sadist is released when he offers her a place in his ranks and rebuild his army for his second uprising against the world that he intends to rule. Post Avengers. Prior Thor 2. Rated M for explicit scenes. (on haitus)
1. Under New Protection

A God's Champion

Chapter One: Under New Protection

Harper Maven Black glanced at her new client under her protection. He paced his refurbished office in obvious turmoil. He was the exact look of a politician: frail, tall, and he would have looked cunningly charming if beads of sweat hadn't been pooling down the front of his collared shirt and underarms. While he walked to and fro in the brilliant grand room that was what rich people called a "tiny office", Harper stared dead ahead at the door. Her arms were folded over her chest in her all-black military uniform (slick, black long sleeve shirt—a bullet proof vest underneath; cargo pants, guns on each hip, knives on each pant leg, and combat boots). She only tore her gaze from the orifices of the office to look, and slightly relish, the fact that Governor Mitch was worrying about the possible end of a highly productive, lavished, spoiled life of he and his monetary treasures and possessions.

"No one is allowed to come in or out without my permission, is that right? _Is that right?_" said Gov. Mitch apprehensively, walking toward Harper with the demand for an answer, or answers. He was sweating at the brow. She merely looked at him lazily and smiled the most insincere smile to ever come across her pretty face.

"That's right," she answered in a less than dulcet tone.

It was obvious that she didn't wish to protect him. Nor did she like him.

"What are the safety measures that have been taken? _You tell me. Now._"

"Sir, there's no reason to be bitter. Your entire house is cased with guards and soldiers," she replied calmly.

He was two feet in front of her, and she could smell the alcohol heavy on his breath. His perspiration was likely a mix of his booze from his nervous habit of drinking whenever he felt strong anxiety. Harper looked at him with distaste.

Comparison and stature, she stood a foot taller than the governor—and she was by the far the prettiest of both of them. Wind-swept, long blonde hair would have framed the light green-eyed eyes of Agent Black if it wasn't tied up in a strong military bun. The governor, measley today without any hope of looking like his usual dashing self, was a sight to see at a circus for world's ugliest man. By this outlook, Harper was extremely calm, collected—though she grew tired of Gov. Mitch berating her with useless, routine questions and his ever constant, nervous pacing.

He merely stared at her as if her previous answer was no comfort to him. She licked her lips and continued to explain,

"You practically have your own army surrounding the front yard. It'll be a surprise to me if anyone makes it in pass your body guards."

"And you. You're my bodyguard. You _will _protect me. You will kill anyone who walks through that door." Governor Mitch commanded.

"I'm ordered to protect you from anyone who should oppose harm _unto_ you. That doesn't mean that when a messenger comes in to bear you good news—if any," she added with a sly smirk, for the likelihood of that was very low, "I'll blow him away. It's a precaution, Sir."

"But your orders—"

Harper scowled.

"My orders, sir, were to guard you from the mutants that do not work with the X-Men, and to assure you that no one from the Avengers would pick you off like the wings off a fly. Half the assassins from S.H.I.E.L.D are at your beck and call if you should feel like you're in harm's way; and not to mention that the Avengers—who are the good guys, by the way—are watching the satellites. You are safe in here with me."

"Oh? You're a woman, Harper."

She frowned at him when he said that. Her eyes blazed.

"How is a woman supposed to protect me from people like Thor?"

"The people like Thor do not wish death upon mortals like you and me," said Harper coldly. "The Asgardians are beside themselves; and they don't interfere in the commerce of mortals. Thor and the others up in the sky, the Avengers, watch over the world to make sure that we all are safe. The mutants that you _should_ like are watched over by Professor Xavier at the school for outcasts and unaccepted—the people that you should fear are far worse than any of them that you could possibly imagine.

"And, Governor, I _am_ a woman; but I know thirty-two ways on how to get a man to spill any information should he resist. If I were you, I'd be so careful to _not_ piss me off, if it's all the same to _you_," Harper explained fluently, pointing her finger into his chest on the last sentence.

Governor Mitch stared at her, stumped, then hesitated. He used the tie from around his neck to dab at the sweat forming above his upper lip.

"If you don't stop perspiring, you will surely dehydrate yourself." Harper muttered. "Sit down, sir. You look a fright." She kindly gestured to his seat behind her.

"Yes..." he said as if to himself. "Yes, you're right. I'm safe. I'm protected."

"You should figure out how to explain yourself better in your next campaign, though," Harper criticized as Governor Mitch flopped down behind his desk and into his office chair.

"How do you mean, Agent Black?" he asked curiously.

Harper turned her head to face him while she spoke.

"Telling the entire world through a global camera that you wanted all magical beings and all 'deformed' mutants to come forth and be annihilated...that's not your greatest play."

"But I was elected," said the governor smugly. "I won that campaign."

"Your entire government," said Harper, annoyed, "is fixed with corrupted politicians, extortionists, crooked cops, dead beat lawyers, and undercover thugs. It doesn't surprise me that you won the election by a landslide. Especially if your opponent was a straight arrow..."

"You disagree with my settlements, then, Agent Black?"

"I _strongly_ disagree." Harper answered. "I don't pretend to like you. As you can tell..."

Gov. Mitch smiled wickedly.

"You really are straight forward, aren't you, Harper?"

"I know that you extorted the family of your opponent who was running against you. I know better than to think that Sarah Blanche had to drop out of the election due to illness." Harper turned full-bodily to face him.

Gov. Mitch quirked his head to the side as she set her gloves hands on his desk in an authoritarian manner, claiming the right to speak.

He smiled at her.

"You've got something to tell me, don't you?" hissed Mitch with a guttural voice. He spoke as if he had gotten away with a crime—with arrogant triumph and insolent pride. "Why don't you tell me what you think?"

Harper chuckled without her smile meeting her eyes. She clicked her tongue. Then she laid into him.

"I know that you did some things that would make the hair on the mayor's neck stand on end. You should hate yourself for what you did to Blanche's family. Conned your way to the top, pretending that you stand for something good. What you lack is an open mind. You want everyone to hate everybody else who is different—born with powers or mutated by the Y chromosome. That is what you stand for—you think that the entire world should hate each other; and you hate it that you are the only one in the world who wants all mutants to be like everybody else.

"All should stand as one," said Harper irritably, straightening, "Or fall down together."

"You have set principles." Mitch said with slight admiration, "but there is no one ruler of the world to decide the fate of others."

Harper scoffed, and hissed at him,

"I'd like to see your fate be decided by someone who could care less about how much money you had in your bank account."


	2. A Bargain

A God's Champion

Chapter Two: A Bargain

Governor Mitch's face expressed the internal fear that he had always been managed to suppress for the major part of his term as he gazed into the fixed, blazing eyes of S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Harper Black, whose stare never faltered when she stated the terror that he hoped never to occur. Everyone had a price, and they could be bought. Governor Mitch had gained his grand title through extortion, blackmail, and bribery. His hands plunged into the tax payers' money for rewards that he himself could not afford on a governor's salary. Harper didn't pretend to like him at all; she absolutely hated his very fiber being.

"You help those who cannot help themselves," hesitated Governor Mitch quietly.

"I am a hired assassin," said Harper icily. "If I had it my way, you'd be buried six feet deep underneath New York, along with the rest of your slippery assets. You think that S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't know about your creepy antics that you have had going on in your term, Governor? They know. Director Fury knows a little more than what you think that he does.

"He just won't act on it," stated Harper unhappily. "He protects people like you, no matter how slimy and uncouth that they are."

"You've served worse people in your time, I imagine," said Mitch gently, sitting apprehensively in his seat. "What is a crooked politician compared to the men that work in that council above S.H.I.E.L.D?"

Harper straightened her back and crossed her arms.

"Compared to what rests in the heavens," Harper explained waspishly, nodding her head up to the ceiling, "you are no more a threat to the planet than a dog in a cage."

"You think that I'm in a cage, then?" questioned Mitch.

"You've trapped yourself," said Harper. "You've pissed off some very dangerous people, including Magneto—a mutant—and I daresay quite a few more people who are far more dangerous than him. Now our lives hang in the balance of yours. You want us to guard your life so that you may annihilate those whom you think are below you—mutants, _gods, _people who are gifted, talented, and more special than you have ever been in your entire life. It's a fool's errand, a folly gesture at world peace."

"You certainly have a lot of opinions for a murderer."

"I follow orders. My opinions have got nothing to do with what I do."

Harper's attention was broken when she heard outcries from outside of the locked office door behind her. Governor Mitch hitched his breath and cowered behind his desk, suddenly frightened.

"Help us!" cried someone from behind the door; but then almost as he had called out, he was silenced. Then it was quiet. Harper's hands steadied along the handle of her dual pistols along the seams of her thighs, ready and alert.

"Oh my god..." whimpered Gov. Mitch, utterly terrified. "Oh, it's happening."

"_Shut it,_" hissed Harper abruptly.

Harper inhaled slowly and then flinched as the doors of the grand office swung open and flung off their hinges. They landed in a cloud of smoke, shattering the small, paned glass windows. From the cloud of dust came an armored, horned helmeted, raven-haired man, dressed in green and gold, and wielding a glowing scepter in his hand. Harper stared at him as if fixated—she was not afraid, but entranced.

"Oh...Oh no..."

Harper heard the bequeathing cries of the governor from behind her.

Still staring at the man before her, Harper quickly hushed the governor.

"My name is Loki of Asgard," he introduced himself calmly, setting a smooth hand upon the chest of his armor. "You're guarding someone that needs to die."

"What is your quarry with him?" asked Harper calmly.

Loki smiled at her, amused. His palm around the scepter loosened slightly as he regarded her for a split minute. She was curious, but alert; she was calm, but cautious. Loki automatically understood that she was one of Fury's trained ravens from the sky—albeit a beautiful one, he didn't attempt to underestimate Harper as he had before with a few others as before. Loki licked his lips thoughtfully.

Even as he gazed at Harper, he could hear the small sobs coming from the beneath the desk—the governor's fear was appropriate.

"What do you want from us this time, Loki?"

"Ah, so you remember me," Loki sighed, zealous.

"You destroyed half the city with an army of aliens from outer space," replied Harper blankly. "It's hard to forget something like that; and your battle cost the lives of several others."

"Ah, yes." Loki reminisced. He peered at her with interest. "And so this time, you intend to stop me? If you are, I would _highly_ recommend that you think again on that decision. It would be a waste of your time, though not exactly a waste of mine."

Harper remembered his battle upon New York and Massachusetts from the last time he had invaded. It took an entire team to fight him and arrest him—and somehow, he had left Asgard once more. It appeared that he was about to lead another army to Earth, this time with a vengeance. Harper's eyes watched him carefully; but her caution was overpowered with curiosity.

"With all your power, with all your strength," she asked softly, "why come after _one_ man?"

"He intends to rid the world of super-human beings, special citizens who wield gifts that mere mortals do not possess. It's an unfortunate thing to waste," Loki said calmly, striding toward her. "I would hazard a guess that Director Fury sent one of his fledglings to guard that mortal cowering behind his desk." He gestured toward Governor Mitch with his scepter in his hand.

Harper glanced at the scepter with mild interest, though watched him with suspicious eyes. He came forward like one who was about to proposition her, a bargain, or a trade. The look in light green eyes was something less than wonder. Loki noted the gaze. He made a quick search within the confines of her visage: she was beautiful, calculating, youthful, strong, and he could sense that she was dropping her defenses as he approached her one step after silent step.

"You come in the guise of a hero?" asked Harper. "You want to _protect _the world? You tried to destroy it the last time that you were here..."

"That's inaccurate. _I_ wanted to rule it; the Chitauri destroyed your dear planet." Loki reminded her with a raised, pointed finger. He was merely two feet away. He stopped walking.

A small chuckle emitted from his lips.

"Are you still on your guard, Agent...?"

"Black. Agent Black..." Harper answered quietly.

Loki nodded his head.

"Black...and you're delighted to defend such a wronged man—to defend him with your life?"

Harper hesitated.

Loki's smile widened.

"That's a lot of hesitation for a yes or no answer."

From behind Harper, the governor whimpered quiet pleas.

"Take her...not me..."

Loki glanced over her shoulder with pointed measure, as a way of stating the obvious that Gov. Mitch had no qualms with Loki replacing his life with hers. Harper bit the inside of her left cheek. Harper's hands along the handles of her pistols lingered only for a few minutes. Loki's light eyes watched her fingers critically.

He was getting to her. Loki smiled at her.

"Agent Black, it doesn't seem like he values your life more than he values the rest of the world? I could so easily kill him _and_ you, but that would be ridding you of the chance to take care of this little problem yourself."

"You managed to get through the guards outside of this house, Loki," said Harper factually. "Why not kill me anyway?"

"I could, but then who would open the doors for me?"

Harper's frown didn't budge. Loki's joke didn't touch her. He stepped forward two paces. They were merely twelve inches from one another; and Harper's face switched from alert to one as if he had disarmed her. Harper stared up at him as if she had been thunderstruck. Loki's smile charmed her.

"Agent Black, what I intend to do with this world needs enlistment from a few faithful subjects. From Asgard, there are none. I can't expect anyone from your air fortress in the sky to pay any patronage to my cause.

"If you truly wanted to kill me," eluded Loki, "you would have..._tried..._by now."

Harper lowered her eyes to the scepter that now steadied along the line of her jaw. Her mouth opened slightly in shock...and wonder.

"Kill him!"

Loki glanced over the desk, his scepter still against the chin of his wonder-struck captive, and saw the dark eyes of the terrified politician. Loki chuckled in fair amusement then straightened—he turned his attention back to Harper, who hadn't moved a muscle.

"You have heart," said Loki, his voice dripping with obvious admiration though nothing above little interest. "I think that you are fighting for the wrong side, pet."

Loki and Harper exchanged glances for a minute, which seemed to take forever. Harper's breathing constricted; her expression of confusion melted, and a small smile appeared upon her lips—slowly, carefully.

He glanced over to the politician to make certain that the coward was still hearing their conversation. It would be the last that he would hear. Loki smiled in approval as the politician shook his head from side to another, too stunned and frightened to believe that one of Nick Fury's assassins was bending to Loki's will.

And this time, he didn't have to possess her mind.

Loki raised a hand to her chin, withdrawing the scepter from her jaw.

"Claim loyalty to me," Loki drawled with a handsome smirk, "and I will give you what you need."

As if this was the final bargaining chip, Harper grinned in honest agreement. Loki stepped back and allowed her to pass. She strode around the desk. Governor Mitch cried out in dismay as Harper grabbed the scruff of his collared shirt and pulled him out from his hiding place. Loki relished the scene as Harper pulled governor off his feet and slammed him onto the desk.

"No, Harper! What are you doing? Please! You're my protector!"

Harper uttered a noise of frustration and smacked him hard across his cheek. He whimpered from the immediate pain that followed. Loki grinned as Harper grabbed a handful of his clothes and pulled the governor up to an upright position, bearing her blazing eyes into the frightened pair of dark ones that reluctantly met hers.

"_You,_" she hissed aggressively, "deserve to die with the rest of your kin when your plan goes into effect."

Harper glanced at Loki in silent permission. He leaned against his staff, highly entertained. With the wave of his hand, he answered her request. Harper smirked, as if she was possessed by some unearthly demon, and withdrew a knife that clung to her material-covered calf. Governor Mitch uttered horrified cries.

"Please, I beg of you!"

Harper flipped the knife into her other hand. She flung the governor onto the floor, laid him on his stomach, and sat down on the small of his back. Her weight cracked a few frail bones and he cried out in agony. Harper entwined her fingers into the sweaty scalp of the politician and yanked his head back; his eyes immediately met Loki's, which were beaming in approval.

"Beg to him," Harper hissed, her mouth close to Mitch's ear.

"W-What?"

"Do it."

Loki signaled for Harper to stop with his hand. She weighted the man down with her knee upon Mitch's spine. The blade in her hand was poised beneath Mitch's narrow chin. Beads of sweat slowly streamed down Mitch's face. Loki approached with cold authority. He drew the scepter to Mitch's throat.

"You will die today," said Loki affirmatively, "either by my hand or Harper's. It seems that she is through with protecting you; and I don't blame her. She has found someone new to serve. Me." Loki smirked.

"Please...please..." Mitch whispered frantically.

"You will kneel before me." Loki ordered to him. He waved to Harper to ease off; Harper rose to her feet. The blade was warm in her hand; her knuckles bore white upon the steel. Loki noticed the small detail in her new attitude. In truth, she apparently had always been bloodthirsty. She longed to quench that thirst. He would give that to her.

"Kneel," instructed Loki. "Or she will make you."

Mitch struggled sit on his knees. Harper grew impatient. Loki watched her step forward. She gave the politician a soft kick to his thigh muscle. Mitch cried out in dismay. He looked up at Loki one more time.

"Kneel," Harper said coldly beside Loki. She raised the knife to his chin to coax him.

Loki smirked as Governor Mitch slowly bowed to the floor, his arms stretched out in front of him obediently. Loki glanced at Harper. She smiled accordingly; she knelt before him without command. The blonde hair on her shoulders brushed forward as she, too, bowed to the floor on her knees.

"Harper," he said instructively. "Do as you are told."

The grin on Harper's face, silhouetted by his shadow upon the ground, widened to one of wickedness that had been shadowed by restraint and law. She rose to her feet obediently. Harper straddled the bowed man and leaned forward to grab the hair upon Mitch's head again. The knife smiled once in her hand, and Harper switched it across the governor's neck in one steady swipe.

Mitch uttered a guttural moan that was drowned out by the gush of blood that flew out of his mouth and his jugular. Blood spattered the floor. A good amount splashed up into Harper's face, which was illuminated with malicious delight.

"Good girl," Loki approved, beckoning Harper to come forward away from the body.

"What happens now, my lord?" she asked curiously, as if this had been a normal thing to happen to a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

Loki held the scepter toward her.

"Grab the head of the staff, pet."

She hesitated.

"Harper."

She looked at Loki, who gazed at her in both reassurance and stern command. She raised a hand to the scepter and placed a shaky palm along the glowing orb. A burst of light emitted from it on Loki's demand—she wasn't harmed, but Harper inhaled sharply and fell to the floor as if she had been injured.

Loki looked at her.

"Feel any better, Agent Black?"

"What...What did you do to me?" she asked quietly.

"It's a reward, pet," said Loki, "for your renown loyalty."

Harper steadied herself to her feet. After a quick survey, she said incredulously,

"I'm not hurt."

"You're my new subject, Harper. I don't harm things that are mine."

"Things?"

"Until you prove otherwise, that is what you are to me. A thing. Property. Something that I own." Loki explained. "I granted you abilities that will set you apart from everybody else, anyone else. The more that you achieve, the more of these little bargains that you will obtain."

He smiled at her.

Harper stared at him in disbelief.

"I don't feel any different."

"Then let me help you."

"What?"

Loki grabbed her arm and flung her up into the ceiling. She cried out, startled, eyes closed shut. She slammed hard into the ceiling, anticipating the fall down.

"Do you intend to come down, Harper?"

Harper opened her eyes slowly. Everything was upside down. She looked 'up' to see Loki staring at her straight in the face, waiting. It took her a few minutes to realize that she was stuck to the ceiling. It was evident that these were the new abilities that he was talking about. She could wall climb...like Spider-man!

Harper raised her hand and fell to the floor. She landed on her feet, no sound was made.

"You are gifted, Harper, in the art of stealth," said Loki. "I merely gave you a few improvements. As a god, _and your king,_ it's actually quite nice to have that kind of power."

"And you want more power when you can do that?" asked Harper.

"You can never have enough power." Loki said with a smile.

"What happens if I should fail?" asked Harper, though this was more out of reluctance.

"If you should fail to do what I say," said Loki, "or if I think that you will take a party's favor over mine, I will make certain..." Harper's eyes widened as he approached her, "that your powers are stripped. Then, when you think that you are helpless, powerless, and most vulnerable..."

He leaned his face into her blood-covered visage. His voice lowered to a tone of promise.

"I will kill you. Slowly. Your former allies up in the S.H.I.E.L.D fortress won't be able to recognize you once your punishment is through." Loki whispered into ear. "Pet." He lightly tipped the bottom of her chin with a pointed finger.

He stepped away from her as she absorbed his vow.

"Is that understood, Harper?"

She nodded.

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Come with me, pet. We have a _lot_ of preparations."

Loki motioned her to follow him; she bounced off after him, leaving the body of Governor Mitch to bleed out onto the carpet.


	3. God Willing

A God's Champion

Chapter Three: God Willing

"What is your plan, Sir?" asked Harper, trailing beside Loki as they walked under the city, through the underground tunnels.

Loki strode beside her with purpose, but his pace was not hasty. It was a proud, routine strut that he carried with him throughout childhood and adulthood. Loki glanced at Harper, whose curiosity had spiked since they had left the governor's house and disappeared underground through the means of a teleporter, on Loki's behalf. When they materialized beneath the foundation of Massachusetts, they started to walk step by step.

"Your wonderment is amusing, Harper," warned Loki politely, "but I would avoid asking many questions unless you want honest answers."

"What other answers are there if they are not honest?" Harper responded as they turned a corner.

"You will remember _that _question when I should demand an answer from you and you wish to lie to me."

"Why would I lie?" Harper replied.

They halted at the same time at the end of a segment tunnel which forked into two diagonal paths. Loki gave her a pointed look.

She had an attitude as if she and Loki had been partners in crime for a decade and spoke to him as if she were already a very faithful servant—as if she had proven to him that she was very capable in handling herself against those who would turn her over into a mutiny against him. While Loki appreciated her moment of ignorant incredibility, his bond with his new lieutenant needed to be one of mutual understanding.

She smiled at him now, though with a respectful look about her. He permitted her information when she remained silent.

"The plan," he said, in response to the start of her interrogation, "is to travel to each state and take out the governors of those who have agreed with the late Governor Mitch's appeal to annihilate the mutants and those who have substantial power."

"Substantial power? I don't understand."

"Power," clarified Loki, "which is regenerated by electricity, machines, and items that are man-made. I don't intend to make a throne for myself on Washington hill only to learn that the more clever men on Earth have made weapons to use against me."

"Iron Man." Harper stated briefly, catching on.

"Yes," Loki affirmed, nodding to her.

She cocked her head at him.

Harper indicated the scepter in her master's hand.

"Why can't you blast him with..._that? _Iron Man, Rogers, Black Widow...they're all soldiers with specific skill sets. None of them have powers like the Hulk...and he doesn't have any real powers. Anger management issues," she said with a shrug, "but that's what it is."

"You're very informed of the situation then." Loki stepped toward her. "You are very perceptive, but intelligence alone is not enough. You have worked with those people. You worked with them _against_ me. I have seen what they can do. Especially the woman," he said with venom.

"They lack traction when faced with an impossible task." Harper pointed out distinctively.

A ghost of a smirk peaked on her lips.

Loki motioned her to step off the tracks and to take a seat on the bench against the wall. Together, they seated. Harper turned to him.

"Iron Man and Captain America—Tony Stark and Steve Rogers—argue about the others abilities. When I was aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D ship, they went at each other for the longest time. They differ in personalities and natural abilities.

"Mr. Stark is a philanthropist, genius, a billionaire—even his heart is a glowing light. It stops a cluster of shrapnel from reaching to his heart. He is a scientist, engineer, and everything in between; he's very perceptive and an intelligent puzzle solver. His entire home is run by J.A.R.V.I.S, a home system computer base that controls his appliances, heating and cooling systems, and the armor suit." Harper explained.

Loki listened to her. This was when he realized that adding her to his uprising team was a very good idea. He raised a finger to stop her.

"What is J.A.R.V.I.S? It's an acronym, isn't it?"

"Just A Rather Very Intelligent System."

"Is that sarcasm?" said Loki quietly.

"No, Sir; that's the acronym. J.A.R.V.I.S _is_ 'Just A Rather Very Intelligent System'."

Loki nodded, unimpressed by the humans' efficient manner of naming advanced weapons.

Harper continued.

"Rogers is a soldier, peaked to the most conditioned form of a man: he has excellent stamina, strength, bravery, and is a living legend. He knows warfare and strategics, war tactics, arsenals, and has worked with S.H.I.E.L.D longer than _I_ had been there.

"They clash together when they are put on a task together."

"Rogers and Banner—Dr. Banner being the Hulk—both bunk heads when one is stopping the other from achieving a goal. Rogers believes that Banner is a dangerous man; Banner knows that he is a dangerous man but rarely chooses to act on it. Unless," Harper said politely, "he should be provoked by, well, you. Banner's alter ego only activates and he transforms when his heart increases to a substandard velocity."

Harper shifted during her explanation.

"You know about Barton and Natasha Romanoff," she said, as if she were listing them on her fingers.

"Can you handle yourself in a fight against them, Agent Black?" Loki asked, though the question was poised as more of a mock than a concern. Harper smiled weakly.

"Agent Barton was my mentor," Harper answered. "He taught me everything that I know."

"This won't haze your duties, will it?"

"No."

"That is not an answer that you listed off the top of your head to appease me, is it?" Loki warned, staring at her.

"No," Harper repeated firmly.

"Tell me," said Loki patiently. "Why should I trust you with this information? You bended so easily against the governor that you were sworn to protect. You give me these details of your alliances with little to no hesitation. What is the appeal, Harper?"

Harper shrugged.

"Well," she sighed, then uttered a small laugh. She struggled to find the right words.

"I imagine that this explanation is a lot harder to word than a simple 'no'." Loki replied when she could only muster silence.

Harper shifted in her seat again. She smiled politely.

"The people that I've killed have always deserved it," answered Harper softly, though without shame. "I've taken great pleasure in carrying out my duties, and I've never hesitated to do it. Director Fury has granted me several missions where the lack of conscience is a required qualification. However, I guess he wasn't planning on me..._liking it..._so much."

Loki's face showed an expression of slight disbelief. Harper waved a hand in a gesture to further explain herself.

"It was something that disturbed me for a bit of time," she continued. "But after a few round of drinks, soul-searching, and self-loathing...I just accept it. I have wanted, for the longest time, to kill Governor Mitch and I was never given the order."

"Yes, the rage was evident," Loki noted coolly.

"I know that you kill," Harper remarked. "I don't pretend to think that it's for a good cause. This supreme king that you want to be—this ruler over the Earth—it's peachy-keen with me. I figure that if you come out on top, I might have a little fun during the progression of a new world. I was an agent whose blood lust was kept under lock and key. I don't deny this about me. It's a hard fact."

"You're a born killer. It's not always a bad trait." Loki said with a shrug. "You are very straight forward, Harper."

"I have one more question, my lord."

"Then ask."

Harper licked her bottom lip, choosing her words wisely.

"Once the government is overthrown, it will be a small fragment in your perfect design if the Avengers should decide to take initiative and thwart your plan. You intend to take out all those who oppose you, but those men—the governors—they're simpletons. They're fools. They are _just_ men."

"I'm not hearing a question, Harper."

"Here it is then," Harper segued quickly. "After the men are taken care of...do you intend to turn the mutants, too, into mere mortals?"

Loki grinned, impressed.

"You are very clever, pet." Loki cooed. "Cleverness and great perception are powerful agents, Harper; but remember your place."

"I am the best person that you have in your flank, my lord," reasoned Harper, rising to her feet. His eyes watched her slide off the bench to pace in front of him. "Wouldn't it be prudent to have me over the mortals?"

"'Have you'?" he questioned her turn of phrase.

"I'm like all the others," Harper said, beckoning to the upper foundation of Massachusetts. "What could separate me from them if not claiming me as a better lieutenant?"

"I would have believed that a place in my rank would have made you satisfied," Loki stated with little concern.

"I am thrilled about that," Harper said swiftly, eliminating the possibility that her master would figure that she was ungrateful. "I just..." She utter a small sigh of frustration. "I am...I am part of your army, am I not?"

"A strong part." Loki replied. "You are leading me to your point. Tell me what you want."

"I can't _'tell'_ you. That would be disrespectful." Harper reasoned, though straining from smarting off to him.

Loki recognized her annoyance and smiled.

"Then how about this, Agent Black? Tell me what you would demand from your king."

Harper considered his statement. She winced, knowing that her request would be one that any ruler would decline off the bat. She stepped forward and knelt to the ground at his feet. He looked down at her from his seated position, awaiting her answer.

"I want others to fear me when I pass through their good graces. I want them to know that I represent all that you stand for. I want those who see me to quake in their clothes and know that I am not merely a messenger of some rare news."

Loki smiled upon her as if she had showered him with a bag of compliments. He leaned forward and tapped the bottom of her chin with a finger. She met his eyes.

"You want to be a god's champion."

He worded her request with precision. She only nodded in response.

"This will highly increase your punishment if you should fail me in any mission that is given to you. It requires the strongest faith that I should have in you if I do this."

"It's a high honor, my lord." Harper replied quietly.

Loki paused. He needed her to fully understand the price of what she wanted him to do. Her request would require that he give her powers that only he would possess, a magician who had mastered the arcane arts to an extraordinary ability. Her powers would almost—not entirely—match his own. Loki stared at her, studying her.

Her smitten infatuation with him was easily recognized through the dilation of her eyes. Her instant loyalty was, albeit admirable, suspicious after declaring _years_ of service to a bureau such as S.H.I.E.L.D. He suspected treachery in her spirit, and yet there was something off about her. Harper Maven Black was a killer, born a mass murderer. While her words were simple nothings as she had explained herself, he had seen the malice and bottled sadism in her actions while she proved her loyalty by killing the governor. Hesitation was not a feat in her grand design. She was born to act on anger and will.

This woman, Loki decided, would be the second-most feared person of Midgard.

"You have purpose, Harper," Loki promised. "I _will_ grant you this request."

Harper smiled.

Loki placed the scepter upon Harper's neck.

"Remain steady. This might hurt once the trail hits your heart."

A flow of blue light slipped into her skin through a magical vein. It traveled to her head and this dipped down into her shoulders. Once the light surrounded her abdominal cavity, she flung backwards and convulsed as if she had been electrocuted. Blue light flickered in the major extremities of her body. Loki watched the beautiful apparition take place with delight as Harper's mortality clashed with the powers of a proficient sorceress. The sudden knowledge of such crafts, both innocuous or otherwise, erupted in Harper's cerebral cortex as if she had learned 43 epiphanies at once.

She didn't cry out, nor did she utter swear words in coughing tones. Loki watched his champion submit into a silent fit of rage on the ground. The painful expression on her face was enough to allow Loki to know that his transference of powers had been successful.

When she came to, Harper looked at him.

"You might need something for that headache." Loki joked. "That is a lot of information to take in all at once."

"Did...did you know that it was going to be _that_ bad?" asked Harper incredulously.

Loki smiled mischievously.

"I might have left that out."

"I—!"

"God of Mischief, Maven," Loki reminded her with a raised finger. "Always remember that."


	4. Laying the Foundation

A God's Champion

Chapter Four: Laying the Foundation

Loki had set up the headquarters for his primary scheme under the scene of Paris, France. He had taken the necessary precautions to make sure that he was off the radar, though Harper's absence from the frame would have assured S.H.I.E.L.D to pick up a scent. Loki's grand standing had cost him dearly the last time he tried a hostile takeover, and this time he wasn't going to fail. As Loki considered the new headquarters, expecting France to be a moment of grandeur since the people believed that it was a rich culture. However, the lower foundations—an underground monastery—seemed to be less than what he had been expecting.

He was disgruntled.

He felt eyes on him, and the only one whose gaze could have been burning so hard at the back of his head was the only person standing in the large arena with him. He turned to look upon Harper, whose eyes—a beautiful light, emerald green—watched him intently. She was studying him as if he were a text book, something physical, something scientific. Loki already understood that she was, by every obvious meaning of the word, _fascinated_ with him. It wasn't an arrogant assumption. He could tell by the look in her eyes whenever he glanced in her general direction. It was both flattering and semi-wondrous.

While he hadn't expected an agent like Harper to refuse his offer, he had thought that—considering the history of S.H.I.E.L.D—she might have resisted him with a large amount of effort. Though, Loki surmised, it seemed that she had been wanting—obviously—to join ranks with him since she first laid eyes on him. While he couldn't read her mind, though could tell it raced with evil thought, he already knew that she was...if anything...instantly attracted to him.

"You look at me as if I will bring down an entire fortress with the tip of my index finger, pet," he remarked calmly.

He smiled at her, which goaded a similar expression from his instantaneously founded follower. There was almost a psychic connection between them, but it was something that irrelevant to romantic interest...at least on his part.

He turned to step toward her.

"It is a beautiful lair, Harper," he said, indicating the monastery with wide, open arms. "How coincidental it is that you suddenly know where a good place to run my operations would be. Out of sight," he continued, "out from Director Fury's radar."

She said nothing, merely grinning at her own success.

"The last time that I saw you looking at me that way," sighed Loki, "was when I told Agent Romanoff what was going to happen to her _dear_ friend...Agent Barton."

His strut was recognizable when he appeared to her with only a foot separating them. Harper's smug expression melted to one as if she had been given a large present. It was a slight disheveled manner, one that immediately told Loki that he was very spot-on with his recollection. Her face, that look that she carried as of present circumstances, had been one of restrained delight. Even then, she had to keep her malice hidden by frowns of disapproval, which if given the freedom to express, would have been a visage of utter delight.

"You _really_ enjoy that line of work, don't you, Harper?" he interrogated her softly.

"It's a refreshment from years of guard duty, sir. Years," she volunteered, "that were somehow wasted. I don't know why I haven't joined you from the very beginning."

"It's an excellent mask to keep—a self-righteous mug that you can put on whenever the opportunity should reveal itself to you. Most regard this as an illusion—a mind-numbing feat that would have everyone else fooled but yourself."

"Such gifts are blessings, my lord—the gifts that you gave me earlier today."

"Gifts," muttered Loki. "If you delve deep into the arcane arts, and you desire to learn all there is to know about the world of dark magic"—he uttered a chuckle that wasn't befitting to the cruel overlord that she had always seen him portray—"You start to feel a little bit of you slowly peel away; and what's left is madness."

"Is it madness?" asked Harper quietly. "What toils within you? Is it?"

Loki glanced at her, hearing the question once before from his own tongue.

"You learn how to ignore it. Suddenly it becomes second nature.

At this dismissal of whatever moment that they were sharing, Harper stepped toward him, observing the scepter in his hands. Mildly curious of the item that held so much importance to her newly appointed king, Harper's eyes fixated on the staff with peaked interest. Loki's ramifications of his own mental well-being were pulled as his attention was turned to Harper as she observed the glowing light atop of the scepter.

"You were imprisoned, Sir, in Asgard," assumed Harper quietly. Her eyes locked with Loki's above the blue light. "How...?"

"My escape was my release from a brother whose love battles with the hate that the rest of the world holds for me," Loki said in a low voice. "The Tesseract holds power of grandeur, an addictive narcotic of limitless power and destruction. It is beautiful."

The light from the scepter illuminated the brightness of his eyes.

"And dangerous..." he added as if to himself.

"You are a god." Harper said. Loki glanced at her from his small trance. "Why have use of such a thing?"

"It is not man-made. It was created by a force stronger than either of us."

"Stronger than you, my lord?"

The lift in her voice of such disbelief turned a serious frown upon Loki's lips to curve into a charming smile. Harper indicated the fair undergrounds of France.

"I _am_ grateful that you granted me this raw power," she said cheerfully, "but I _am_ just one person."

"You would be surprised to know what one person can accomplish." Loki remarked, stepping forward. "I have given you extraordinary abilities. You should wield them for your use. It is a gift."

To demonstrate the smallest of abilities, Loki whipped his wrist for only a moment and withdrew a single rose from mid-air. He held it between his index and middle fingers, and tenderly placed it behind Harper's ear silently. The manner of how he did it made her cheeks flush. He gestured for her to follow him. She obeyed.

"This is where we will lay the foundation. We _are_ just two people. We need an army."

"I know where to find what you're looking for." Harper volunteered enthusiastically.

"You know where to find soldiers who aren't in the employ of the law?"

"Uh, no." Harper uttered sheepishly. "But I do know where a few homicidal maniacs might rest when they're hiding _from_ the law..."

Loki made a face of acceptance.

"I suppose that I'll have to make due with what I can."

Harper indicated the city above,

"They aren't going to pop out many people like Captain America. They are French. Not many choose the life of subjugation. We would have a better chance hitting Italy. The stereotype proceeds itself."

"Stereotype of what?"

"Italians like to whack."

Loki raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"Is...that some sort of drinking game?"

"No," Harper said awkwardly, though pleasantly amused. "What I meant is that we might have a better chance of recruiting a stronger force in a country that isn't devoted to the wine and dining of honeymooners and sex-starved addicts."

At the straight-forward answer, Loki nodded.

"I can lead them down here," Harper suggested confidently.

"Oh, can you?" Loki retorted.

"Yes."

"So sure of yourself..." Loki said as he calculated her facial expressions. "All right, Harper. Prove yourself. Up, you go."

Harper made a swift bow and left the vicinity of her master to play nice with the boys upstairs.


End file.
